DSF congratulates Richmond Green Youth Leaders

Congratulations are in order for three Richmond students who won the latest speech contest leading to this weekend's REaDY Summit 2012.

Theresa Mah from Wowk School, Avitej Dhaliwal from Grauer School and Ken Ip from Richmond Secondary not only wrote their inspiring speeches on what we can do to protect the environment, they were also awarded the best delivery in each of their categories. The three winning students will share their speeches and receive their awards at the Richmond Earth Day Youth Summit this Saturday.

REaDY Summit 2012 will be co-hosted by the David Suzuki Foundation, the City of Richmond and the Richmond School District.

The youngest winner is eight-year old Theresa Mah. Although this is the first time Theresa has ever written a speech, entered a contest and won, she has been worried about the state of our environment for some time now!

"I see pollution everyday as we create so much garbage and waste so much energy," the Grade 3 student shared her thoughts and concerns about the environment. As a result of her worries, Theresa decided to overcome her own fear of public speaking, and ventured on to share her thoughts about what we are doing wrong and how we can help the earth.

"I was nervous with so many people staring at me," Theresa said of the speech contest that took place a few weeks ago at the Richmond City Council Chamber. "But the exciting part of it was I get to share my message with others."

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Here is an excerpt of Theresa's winning speech:

Hello, my name is Theresa. I am a Gr.3 student who goes to Jessie Wowk Elementary School.

Save the Earth, Save Ourselves

Listen and do you hear the earth cry? She is sick. There is lots of garbage in her body, she can't breathe fresh air....

In our world, we have to sustain the things that we consume too. We cannot overfish or the fish will be extinct. We must make sure that if, we chop down a tree we must plant another one....

Twelve year old Avitej Dhaliwal is also a first-time speech contestant. Avitej decided to join this contest because he doesn't want to waste any more time. "The evidence is everywhere, our earth is in trouble," Avitej said. 'My speech is not to dread but to focus on what we can do about it!"

Here is a excerpt of Avitej's winning speech.

Hello ladies and gentlemen. My name is Avitej Singh Dhaliwal and I am in grade 6. I have come here on behalf of Grauer Elementary.

Mother Earth — What is the earth? A tiny speck in the universe, but an extremely important part in all our lives. If we just take a moment to think about it, what the earth was is completely different from what the earth is....

But what can we do? We can do a lot.... If everyone does that, it would be like taking one million cars off the road. Secondly shut down your computer when you're not using it. Not only is it good for the environment, but you save money on your electric bill as well.

Avitej's positive approach toward helping our environment is definitely contagious. Like Theresa, Avitej is already a young campaigner for a cleaner and greener environment. Both youngsters are walking the talk by recycling, composting, turning-off electronic appliances, cutting down waste and, of course, riding their bike whenever they can.

To hear and see these fabulous young champions for a healthy earth, you can pre-register or just show up this Saturday before 9 a.m. at Steveston London Secondary at 6600 Williams Road in Richmond.

The event is open to everyone in the Greater Vancouver Region.

If you are not a resident or student of Richmond, just fill in Steveston London and School District 38 on the registration form. Onsite registration is also available, but that means you will have to show up at the latest by 8:30 a.m. for last-minute registration.

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